The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

What a powerful verse I have for you today and what a pointed illustration!

“But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:14).

Pastor Kenward came home from the office and privately shared with his wife about the conversation he had had with a person who had a testimony of knowing the Lord Jesus as her Savior. He said, “Peggy told me that I could tell you about how greatly she desires to break the habit of smoking. She vividly told me how much she hates this dirty, rotten habit. Nothing would make her happier than when the day would come that she didn’t smoke anymore. We had a good conversation about putting on the Lord Jesus Christ and what that means. I thought she understood and that things were going well until she told me that she would do everything I said but would keep just one pack of cigarettes in the cupboard, in case it didn’t work.” There was silence in the little kitchen of the church parsonage. Mrs. Kenward broke the silence by saying, “Keeping a pack in case it doesn’t work practically guarantees that it won’t work.”

“That’s exactly what I told her,” Pastor Kenward replied.

Living through the Lord’s power will not make us perfect, but we must submit to Him, seek His power in our lives daily and make no provision for the flesh.

Here’s something I want to leave with you: I want the Lord to help me to become the kind of believer He wants me to be. I really need His help and strength. How about you?

“Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother” (1 Corinthians 1:1).

Isn’t it amazing? How often you and I think of Paul the precious apostle. We quote him often. We thank the Lord for the way he was willing to be used of the Lord in church planting ministries. We are challenged by his example.

But who was Sosthenes? We seldom if ever speak of him. Some believe that he might have been the ruler of the synagogue mentioned in Acts 18:17. Whether or not this is the same man, we do know this, and here is the grand lesson for us today: In the ministry of Paul there was found little known faithful men and women who served the Lord Jesus. Though they were not in the spotlight like Paul, they were necessary, and God used them in special ways.

Are you a Sosthenes? Do you serve but not in the spotlight? May the Lord bless you and help you to see how important your area of service is to the Lord and to His people.

Be encouraged today: Regardless of the position I hold, I want to serve the Lord with all my heart. How about you?

It is hard to believe that we have arrived at the twenty-first day of February! For the last few days we are looking at a word for our day. Coming up next is the word GOOD.

If I asked you to pick up your Bible and turn to the book of Nahum, how long would it take you to find it? I’m teasing you just a little because I know that probably Nahum is not a book in the Bible that you would turn to every day. But here is our word GOOD and our verse for today.

“The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble, and He knoweth them that trust in Him” (Nahum 1:7).

What a beautiful word is this word that Nahum chose when He describes God as being GOOD. It gives the idea of being pleasant, excellent, beautiful. Even in the day of trouble, the believer who genuinely comes before the Lord and seeks Him will find that the LORD is good. Even on the most difficult of days, the delightfulness of the Lord will be seen in His goodness.

For today: Be assured God is good.
Be assured God is good all the time.
Be assured that this is not just a cute little saying.
Be assured that in the worst of days, the LORD is good!

As we continue in February, we’ve been thinking of some words and how they impact our lives. Today, I’m thinking of a word that will eat a person up! Really. It will.

It is the word BITTERNESS

Listen to what Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus.

“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice” (Ephesians 4:31). Paul’s word “bitterness” is pikria (pik-REE_ah). The best picture I can draw about this word BITTERNESS is a person who harbors a wrong and thinks about it often. The more that person thinks about it, the deeper the grudge, the harder the feelings, the deeper the anger, and the greater the distortion of thinking.

I’ll call him Harvey (not his real name.) He was a bitter man. He had the motto, “Offend me once and I am done with you.” Apparently a lot of people offended him because he was done with a lot of people. He could remember and recite every hurt and inconsideration that he had experienced over a period of years. His bitterness drove away his family and friends and robbed him of the joy that he could have experienced.

My prayer for you and me: Lord, you have forgiven much in our lives. Help us to be quick to forgive others. Keep us from bitterness and replace feelings of hurt and offence with your peace and grace.   How will this play out in your life today?

I’m thinking of a word today. This particular word is found 40 times in 36 verses.

It basically carries the idea of being moved with compassion. I am thinking of the word MERCIFUL.

Picture this! We read of the account of how the LORD God revealed Himself to Moses.
“And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, THE LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6).

“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy” (Psalm 103:8).

“Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful” (Psalm 116:5).

“Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17).

The Lord Jesus looks on His people with mercy. He is merciful in His compassion and withholding from us what we rightly have coming to us. The reason He can is because He took our place and took everything that we rightly deserve (and He didn’t deserve!) to be our MERCIFUL Savior.

Whoa! Wait a minute! While I am rejoicing in Him being merciful, how many times today will the opportunity come to me to stand for what is right and yet show compassion, mercy. So, my friend, how will you demonstrate being MERCIFUL?